PAU: Kashmiri farmers pick up lessons in Ludhiana

Under the “Operation Sadbhawna” started by the Indian Army for youths in Jammu & Kashmir, 19 farmers from the state are visiting Ludhiana these days for training in the PAU. According to officials, they would learn new farming techniques from the experts at Punjab Agricultural University. At function at Dholewal Military camp station commander Brig Manish Arora welcomed them and hoped it would give expertise to farmers to help improve their produce in J&K. While providing information, Brig Arora informed that the Indian Army has been regularly motivating the Kashmiri youth for contributing to the nation building. He said that under Operation Sadbhawna, the youth are urged to shun separatist thinking and instead focus on growing their own produce and further polish their skills. Under this programme, these young farmers arevisiting the Horticulture Department at Punjab Agricultural University, where they would learnabout new farming techniques, besides they would also visiting various other farms in the campus.He informed that these farmers are from different villages in Budgam district of Jammu & Kashmir, who are involved in farming of apple, apricots, paddy and other crops. He said that as comparedto Punjab, the farmers in Jammu and Kashmir suffer due to lack of farming techniques there. He said that the Indian Army had started “Operation Sadbhawna” last year, which is showing good results. He further stated that these farmers would learn about new farming techniques at PunjabAgricultural University and would then adopt them in their own farmlands. Brig Manish Arorasaid that the main aim of Operation Sadbhawna is to make the Kashmiri youth aware about the development model of other states of our country. He said that once they visit other states, theytry to replicate those development models in their respective areas. He informed that thesefarmers would stay in Ludhiana till December 6, 2018 and would visit Chandigarh on December7, 2018.